Ribbons
by Lione 'Tabuukilla' Fortuna
Summary: As Silver Gospel escapes, the US struggles with its options. One agent makes the call, requesting that a certain miracle worker be deployed. Above the seas of Japan, near the beach, a supposed relic of a bygone era and a cutting edge prototype clash in the skies.


**So this isn't a serious story or anything; I mostly just wanted to try my hand at writing a fighter jet battle scene and well, I've been in an Ace Combat mood lately (5, 4, and 0 all in like 2 weeks lol). Therefore, don't take this as a narratively seriously story or anything, I just wanted to see how it went.**

**So, you know, if the set up does seem a bit jank or rushed, haha, sorry. I tried to make it at least somewhat bearable.**

**If you're into Ace Combat, I'd recommend either Farbanti, Emancipation, or Blockade from the AC4 soundtrack; alternatively you can grab Liberation of Gracemeria from AC6 or Wings of Unity or Closure from AC5. Or if you're feeling spicy, Zero from AC0. You'll know when to play it.**

**For the other moment afterwards, I'd say either "Victory" from 4 or "Fifteen Years Ago" from 5.**

**Mobius One, Engage.**

* * *

Panic was the best way to sum up the current situation. An IS under US control had suddenly gone berserk for an as of yet undiscovered reason and its current heading was placing it in the Japanese airspace.

Due to the delicate nature of the IS, there was no chance that they would even have an IS deployed anywhere in the general vicinity for an intercept. Everyone was currently scrambling for a way to figure out how to stop it and sweep the entire thing under the rug.

"I've got a plan."

The calmness of the unnamed agent's voice cut through the havoc in the war room.

"Contact the Japanese government and convince them to use pilots from IS Academy to stall for time."

"And what next, wise guy? We just going to hope that Silver Gospel runs out of battery?"

"There's someone stationed in Okinawa who can get the job done."

"You've got to be kidding me! You can't possibly think anything that's left there could deal with Silver Gospel!"

"With all due respect, that's where you're wrong."

The unnamed agent stood up, already starting to make the call.

"After all, the 118th is there."

* * *

It wasn't the strangest request, but it was still odd. That's what Chifuyu Orimura had thought when she received the call to scramble some IS pilots in order to intercept a berserked IS that was due to pass over their airspace soon.

Admittedly, she would have hesitated more if they had been tasked with taking it out. The only two people that could have possibly worked that miracle would have been Houki Shinonono and her brother. At the very least, they were told they'd be getting backup.

Though, it seemed strange that the Japanese government itself was stepping in for this one. Perhaps it had been their own pilot that went berserk? She wasn't exactly filled in on the details and the government had been highly evasive.

Regardless, she did feel slightly more comfortable that a larger group would be taking on Silver Gospel, and more importantly, they could act defensively. This meant a larger chance they'd stay alive, hopefully.

The battle had already dragged on for thirty minutes. Everyone's shields were running low, and she was glancing at the clock for every passing second.

"Something just popped up on the radar!"

"Yamada-san, report!"

"It's alone and unidentified! It's moving too fast to be an IS!"

Before Orimura could ask the IS pilots in the area to get a visual on it, a new voice broke out on the radio in English.

"_IS Academy, do you copy? We were instructed to use this frequency for Operation Trumpeter."_

"This is Orimura Chifuyu of IS Academy. Identify yourself." She responded back with her rather fluent English.

"_This is AWACS Sky Eye. We're the backup that you've been holding out for. We'll handle it from here."_

"Orimura-san, we have visual!"

It was almost impossible to believe. After all, this very existence had been a legend. Fighter planes that were still capable of taking on an Infinite Stratos. No, fighter pilots that were capable of _beating_ an Infinite Stratos.

She had heard the most about them during her time in Germany. It had been a pastime of Clarissa's, watching wartime documentaries, both the new and old. Despite the world having wholeheartedly embraced the IS, there were those that weren't so accepting. Or perhaps they thought there wasn't as much beauty in the IS as there was in these planes.

Whatever the reason was, she was aware of a few of them.

One such pilot had been _Cipher, _known as the _Demon Lord of the Round Table_. A legendary mercenary, it was said that before the Alaska Treaty had been signed, he had single handedly stopped several small scale wars that broke out using IS units. He seemingly vanished after that, but there were still reports coming in that his plane was active and taking down IS units. However, countries denied those IS units even being in that airspace, even with supposed video evidence.

Of course, she surmised it might have been Phantom Task affiliated ISes, stolen and now being used. But that didn't diminish the legends.

Another pilot, or perhaps a set of four. The _Demons of Razgriz_, four legendary pilots who also went toe to toe with multiple IS units at a time and still came out on top. They too, like the Demon Lord, had seemingly vanished, and yet, there were still rumors of their emblem being sighted on black planes to this day. No country had ever stepped forward to take credit for their exploits, even to this day.

The last of them, though, she was very well aware of. Even before the documentaries.

_It's been a long time, hasn't it?_

Tabane had been furious that day. Sure, while the world had taken to the IS like a fish to water after she stopped every single nuke, and then repelled the world's forces to capture White Knight…

...a single fighter had shown up after the ordeal was almost over and the world's forces were already starting to withdraw. With that, it proceeded to fly with more grace than she could ever hope to muster, even with the Infinite Stratos, and brought about the first defeat the Infinite Stratos had ever known.

Though, it had never made the news. The entire incident about White Knight was heavily classified. Some things slipped through the cracks, but it seemed there was a concentrated effort to keep the contributions of that fighter plane on the down low. Since it was difficult to get a full report from multiple countries, it was never truly confirmed whether or not that fighter plane had been there.

She suspected it had been a US affiliated pilot. Perhaps they had just been keeping his identity covered up in order to garner favor with Shinonono Tabane. Or maybe they were holding onto the footage of that plane as an ace card, to be revealed only when necessary.

What Orimura Chifuyu didn't know was that fighter plane had been late due to a malfunction on the catapult of the carrier he was being deployed from earlier. She wondered, though, many times, if that pilot had been flying with the rest of them that day—

—would the world have embraced the Infinite Stratos the way they did?

"Understood, Sky Eye. All Infinite Stratos pilots, withdraw from the battlefield!"

While she would never admit it to anyone, the next three words said over the radio made her heart race.

"_Mobius One, engage."_

* * *

The world was speed, air rushing past the F-22A with its signature ribbon insignia.

"_You're approaching the combat zone. Thirty thousand feet to target."_

It wouldn't be the first, nor would it be the last time he had been asked to fly out against an Infinite Stratos unit. Maybe it was lucky that this time, it was only one, but he had come out victorious against two before.

Granted, this was a supposed prototype of the United States, so it would stand to reason that it was packing something new on board.

"_A fighter plane?! There's no way that can win against Silver Gospel!"_

"_We were given orders to withdraw, Alcott."_

"_Bodewig, you can't be serious!"_

"_I am."_

"_Geez…!"_

Orimura's voice cut into the chatter. _"It will be fine." _

"_Count them, one, two, three, four, five, six—six Infinite Stratos units on withdrawal heading. Battlefield is clear, Mobius One. Target is dead ahead at heading zero five zero."_

The familiar rushing of wind was heard as the F-22A lowered altitude with a small spiral, descending to just above Silver Gospel's reported altitude.

"_Heads up, enemy is facing you. Radar spike!"_

It was likely being manually aimed, but aided with the help of a computer, with whatever its weapon was. The mission briefing described its weapon as an "incredibly versatile TLS".

"_Energy buildup! Break!"_

Every IS Academy pilot had expected to see an explosion as soon as the massive blue beam spewed forward into the air.

What they didn't expect was to see the plane have pulled left and over over the beam, firing two missiles that sought out and struck Silver Gospel, carefully gliding over the blue beam of light.

"_Shack two on the target, Mobius One! But we're not done yet."_

"_No way!"_

"_That's impossible!"_

Silver Gospel, having failed to eliminate its target in one fell swoop, immediately took off to pursue the fighter plane that was pulling away, approaching from a seven o'clock angle.

"_Radar spike."_

A quick dive. A pitchback that ended just a mere five hundred feet over the sea. Regardless of maneuver, it continued to track him, firing its killer beam.

The waters below erupted as it shot ahead of him, consistently trying to trap him, but the ribbon fighter just kept darting between the geysers that gave off a hiss of steam each time they blew before getting a chance to pull up and away from the danger zone.

The thing that was saving the fighter pilot had been pure speed, as an IS just couldn't compete with its level of engine power.

However, its energy attacks were not to be trifled with. Every spike meant having to do quick thinking, attempting to gauge where the enemy could try to corner him next. But breaking visual with Silver Gospel might become the only way to live.

It was almost like watching an airshow. Silver Gospel would fire. The fighter plane would do some kind of maneuver to dodge it, and circle around to try to get a good shot. However, because Silver Gospel could turn quickly, it became almost impossible to try to get a good angle.

"_Warning, energy build-up at the rear of the target. Watch out, it could have something up its sleeve. Try to shake her, though."_

Accelerating to its maximum speed, the F-22A started pulling away from Silver Gospel, the afterburners glowing. Despite the IS' flexibility, it simply wasn't able to compete with a much larger engine and thruster power.

Except perhaps, that its own weapon could be used in that way.

A bright blue beam cut through the sky, shooting behind Silver Gospel as its wings unfolded, light spilling out of them. Like a glowing blade, it shot forward at the fighter plane, attempting to sweep into it. After all, Silver Gospel could survive with its shields. But if it could just slice a bit into those engines, it would be all over for the pilot.

"_Break."_

Through the calamity of the shrieking girls who thought that surely, this pilot was going to die, a calm male voice came through.

Not that it was needed, as the ribbon fighter was more than capable of handling this, but perhaps someone had to speak for the thoughts of the otherwise radio silent aircraft.

Despite Silver Gospel's incredible speed, the ace of aces moved with expert timing, barrel rolling with precise placement of his plane as to avoid being clipped by the ramming IS unit. More importantly, Silver Gospel had overshot the fighter plane, switching their positions.

The ribbon fighter wasted no time, opening up with two more missiles and a volley from the guns that delivered a punishing strike. However, before he could ready another strike, Silver Gospel used its maneuverability to shoot straight into the air, breaking the radar lock. In response, the fighter plane pulled away, attempting to place distance in the attempt of a pursuit, which Silver Gospel immediately did, negating all of the work placed into reversing pursuer and pursued.

Then, there was another option—exploiting a weakness of the Infinite Stratos.

"_Orimura-sensei, requesting permission to return to combat area and assist!"_

"_Negative, Dunoa. That ribbon fighter's got it from here." _Orimura said as the fighter plane climbed up into the clouds.

"_Ribbon fighter…?"_

Unlike a normal dogfight, the pursuer wasn't a plane and had a full sphere in movement capabilities. It didn't require the same kind of timing to execute a turn, nor did it have to worry as much about aerodynamics and being slowed down with maneuvers. This made being pursued by an IS, let alone being the one to force it to overtake him, much more difficult.

However, there was something key to Silver Gospel's fighting style and perhaps the fighting style of the IS in general. Because of its dependency to be deployed in close range, personal combat, with IS units typically being designed specifically to take out other IS units, most manufacturers had neglected radar built in to track the enemy beyond a more immediate range. After all, there wasn't going to be a need to track your enemy that far out, and other units could support radar tracking. When the shield was the lifeline of the IS, every bit of power that could be saved went into it.

Which is why even the super prototype, as soon as the pursuer and pursued broke into and stayed in the cloud layer, it had a hard time tracking him.

Though, its missiles could be used to track where it had come from. Or if it went above the cloud layer, then…

Well, there was no reason to have to target him specifically. Especially when fighting in a chase had proven to be ineffective.

"_Mobius One, energy build up in the target, no radar spike! It's rapidly accelerating straight up! Climb to ten thousand feet, beat Silver Gospel up!"_

The afterburners came on, flaring out behind the aircraft. If anyone had been able to see through the clouds, they would have seen a dance of two silver angels. One trailing blue light, one trailing purple light. Both trying to reach a higher altitude first.

In the end, it was the purple trailing angel that broke through first, completely evading Silver Gospel's spread attack that launched energy bolts in a full circle below it. During that split second it had tried to launch an attack, the fighter plane pulled up, coming into a wingover to quickly reverse direction now that it had some breathing room.

"_Target is dropping altitude."_

Pursued back down through the clouds, Silver Gospel became visible over the open ocean once again. Two more missiles, followed by the sounds of gunfire, as the ribbon fighter closed the distance, occasionally rolling around a fired laser beam that was returned due to Silver Gospel being able to move backwards.

However, due to its movement ability, Silvero Gospel broke a hard right with its thrusters, likely putting strain on the target, but allowing it to dodge the missiles launched at it.

"_Missile shot, trashed."_

Though, the next volley was not so easily dodged as Mobius One completely overshot Silver Gospel, leaving it in the dust due to their speed difference, but that was fine. Silver Gospel's critical mistake had been assuming the next four missiles were of the same type that were previously launched at her.

But these weren't the normal ones; the ribbon fighter had launched XMAAs, targeting not just her central body, but the "wings" attached to her.

"_Special weapons confirmed hit!"_

Explosions rocked across Silver Gospel's body as the attacks connected from a failed dodge, leaving her open to another two missiles from the fighter plane who had circled back for another strike.

"_Mobius One, Fox Two."_

There was only one way to end this. Ultimately, it was still just another machine. It didn't have the luxury of the shields of an IS.

And that meant it could be physically torn apart.

While it had failed to overtake it from behind, perhaps charging from the front would lessen the amount of time the pilot had to respond. Additionally, if they broke away, Silver Gospel might be able to force a pursuit.

"_Target is closing the distance, on a ramming course with you, Mobius One!"_

In the distance, Shinonono Tabane watched with burning anger, fists shaking. This had been meant to be her sister's debut. She had designed this entire scenario, including the AI program that was currently hijacking control of Silver Gospel, to have all contributed to that. But she had gotten tunnel vision—while she anticipated Orimura Ichika's friends to have gotten in on the fight, she had never thought that the same ribbon fighter that had taken down the White Knight would show up here.

_Why you? Why now? _She thought. _From the past and even to the future, are you going to be here? Just what are you?_

The wings of the protector offered no response, save for the contrails being drawn in the sky as the ribboned angel danced in the sky.

"_Energy and radar spike! Mobius One, break!"_

Silver Gospel reached out, having suddenly reversed direction and charging straight at the fighter plane, ready to use its energy attacks to burn through the metal and annihilate the entire plane in one go.

From the ground, the IS pilots watched. Some of them turned away, not wanting to see the inevitable fireball that they thought was coming.

From the cameras mounted on the IS suits, IS Academy's staff watched. Their eyes were fixed to the screens, watching impossibility unfold before their eyes.

From her small cliffside perch, Shinonono Tabane watched. Her eyes widened, her heart conflicted, both wanting to witness a miracle but also wishing to be responsible for crushing one.

...as the ribbon fighter rolled right. Pulling into a roll just enough to dodge a hit, starting to move up. Moving straight into a lag roll, the fighter plane tightly looped back around, launching off two more missiles.

From her perch, Shinonono Tabane quietly shut off the program that had been keeping Silver Gospel berserked. This had been her loss. Even an AI designed by someone such as herself, the best the world had known, had been unable to overcome what could only have been called a miracle in the form of a plane.

She knew that it was limited in armaments. She knew that it might not be able to actually complete the amount of damage needed to fully deplete Silver Gospel's shields that were leftover from the students engaging it. It would be a simple calculation, after all.

Yet...

Even if her program was able to overcome those wings, the damage was done. No matter how brightly her sister shone now, she would be overshadowed by that plane. But somewhere, deep in her heart, Shinonono Tabane felt a distinct fear. A fear that no matter what she tried, she wouldn't be able to overcome that ribbon.

"_Stop!" _A new female voice cried out over the radio.

"_Mobius One, weapons hold!"_

The ribbon fighter broke off of its path immediately, pulling down and to the left to disengage while also prematurely detonating his missiles to avoid a hit.

"_This is Silver Gospel's pilot Natasha Faires, I've regained full control of my craft!"_

"_This is AWACS Sky Eye, Silver Gospel."_

"_Sky Eye…?"_

"_Confirming your current status, Silver Gospel. Are you sure you are under control of your unit?"_

"_Affirmative, Sky Eye."_

"_Understood. IS Academy, requesting coordinates for escort."_

"_Copy that, Sky Eye. Can you have your pilot guide her to us?"_

"_Wilco, IS Academy. Mobius One, new heading—one three zero. Silver Gospel, do you have visual on Mobius One?"_

"_The fighter plane? The one with the ribbon insignia? I see him."_

"_Good. Follow him to the landing zone."_

* * *

It only had taken a few minutes more, but soon enough Natasha was back on the ground, where just to be safe, her IS had been placed into a lockdown state. Above them, circled the F-22A, ready for if anything else went wrong.

The teenagers of IS Academy, the ones who had been sent to deal with Silver Gospel, watched the plane in amazement that such a plane existed.

"Laura, is that plane particularly special?" Charlotte asked as they saw it draw sharp contrails in the breaking sunrise.

"No, it appears to be a completely ordinary F-22A plane. There don't appear to be any modifications to it whatsoever."

"Then… are you saying that pilot was able to take on Silver Gospel with such an outdated plane?"

"Outdated as in when it was produced?"

"Well, you know…"

No one wanted to say it. Perhaps it had been the pride instilled into them as IS pilots. That there was no other machine in the world that could take them on. This plane should have been a relic of a bygone era. It should have been like bringing an old-fashioned musket to the streets of modern combat. And yet, despite the efforts of six Infinite Stratos units, two of them supposedly being from Shinonono Tabane herself...

"The last F-22A was delivered in 2012. It's already been succeeded, both in terms of airplanes and over all technology. The Infinite Stratos has become the main focus as well." Laura stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Then… then how—?!" Alcott shouted. "How did she—"

"He." Orimura Chifuyu cut in, having just come into earshot of the discussion while using a headset to communicate. "We'll take it from here, Sky Eye."

"_Copy that, IS Academy. I'm glad the mission was a success."_

"As am I. Thanks for the help. And forward my thanks to that _ribbon fighter_ as well."

"_It's an honor that you know who we are. I'll let him know. Mobius One, return to base. Mission accomplished."_

With a sharp turn, the F-22A slowly turned back towards the ocean. Against the sunlight, it was easy to see blue ribbons he was known for. Orimura Chifuyu calmly raised a hand and waved. In return was a single signal light flashed from the cockpit.

She had an inkling that he knew who she truly was. After all, when she had quickly rose to the top of the IS ranks, it wasn't unlikely to think that Mobius One had seen the news. There could only be one person who was that skilled. Perhaps one day, they'd meet again in the skies. But whether that would be with or against each other, that was the real question.

_Hmph. What am I, some lovesick high school girl?_ She thought to herself, having a self-derisive internal chuckle.

"Orimura-sensei, just… who is that plane?" Shinonono Houki asked, breaking her thought train.

"And what do you mean 'he'?!" Alcott demanded. "It'd have to be a woman, right?! Only someone who was so familiar with an IS could fight an IS that well, and it'd stand to reason that person would be an IS pilot!"

"You'd do well to think higher of men." Chifuyu stated bluntly, causing Alcott to stay silent. "If you actually did your history homework, you might have already known."

"Then, Instructor—"

"Orimura-sensei."

"Orimura-sensei," Laura continued. "To repeat Shinonono-san's question, who is that plane? Or maybe even _what_ is that plane?"

Chifuyu could only smile as she watched the F-22A slowly disappear into the distance. An early beach wind kicked her hair and skirt to the side, all of her students curious at the nostalgic and respectful look on her face. Even Orimura Ichika, who had known her all his life, had never seen such an expression as she ran a hand through her hair, closing her eyes as she spoke.

"I don't know. Nobody does. Maybe history will. But there is one thing we can say for certain. Legends are real. You've all just seen one and you're watching him go home."

* * *

**Hello yes welcome to the end of my jerking off of Mobius One lmao**

**Anyways, something short, sweet, get creative juices flowing and working on something that isn't my main three projects. I just had this idea floating around in my head, is all, and wanted to do something with it. The image of Mobius One just taking on Silver Gospel and pulling a win was just too exciting.**

**Granted, I feel I slightly stole away from it because Tabane shut it off. I was struggling whether or not to use the real life ammo count or the Ace Combat ammo counts for the F-22A, and ultimately settled for something closer to the real life ammo counts because hahahaha yeah those things can't carry seventy-something missiles.**

**So, it was a way for me to end the fight without having to worry too much. Maybe it was slightly more poetic, too. Rather than "Tabane's scheme was overcome", it was "Mobius One instilled such a feeling in Tabane that she threw in the towel". Yeah, yeah, I know Tabane probably ain't like that in the canon series, but this was just me playing around with an idea. I kind of like the idea of Mobius One being just that damn good and so much of a miracle worker that it happened.**

**I also enjoyed making Mobius One a bit of a silent protagonist, kind of like in the games. Was pretty fun with the ending sequence how Chifuyu has to talk to Sky Eye to talk to Mobius One.**

**Either way, hope you enjoyed. Went a bit overboard with poetic language sometimes but oh well. Was fun screwing around with this one.**


End file.
